Water heating device with rapid heating function

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a modular water heating device, comprising a means to allow a quantity of hot water to be made available in a short time and/or to avoid any risk of hot water shortage, in order to ensure the maximum comfort of the consumer.

A subject of the present invention is a modular water heating device, comprising a means to allow a quantity of hot water to be made available in a short time and/or to avoid any risk of hot water shortage in order to ensure the maximum comfort of the consumer,

The invention relates in particular to providing sanitary hot water for domestic use.

Water heating devices for domestic use conventionally consist of a single cylindrical or spherical tank that is bulky and difficult to incorporate into modern homes. These devices involve heating the entire volume of water contained in the tank, regardless of the draw-off quantity needed.

The more advanced models have temperature recovery times (to increase from 18° C. to 65° C.) comprised between 5 and 6 hours. There are many drawbacks to these devices:

-   -   a long wait by the user for a satisfactory volume of hot water         to be obtained,     -   absence of information on the quantity of hot water consumed and         on the quantity still available,     -   inability to take any action except in reaction to a sudden hot         water shortage.

When lack of hot water occurs, the user can at best switch the device to manual override and wait the required few hours in order to have a sufficient quantity of hot water available.

Moreover, European patent application EP 2 418 331 describes a modular device for heating sanitary water, capable of being built in, comprising a self-supporting frame, independent water tanks and heating means that are outside the tanks. By its modular design, this device overcomes the drawback of needing to heat the total mass of water at all times. However, this device has the same drawbacks as those described above for conventional water heaters as regards the ability to have a quantity of hot water available in a short time and/or to avoid any risk of hot water shortage in order to ensure the maximum comfort of the consumer.

The present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks.

Thus a subject of the invention is a water heating device, advantageously for heating sanitary water, capable of comprising at least two tanks having sizes and shapes that are identical or different, connected together by water transportation means, capable of comprising a cold water inlet on at least one of said tanks and a hot water outlet on at least one other of said tanks, it being understood that between its entry into the device and its exit from said device it is possible for circulation of the water to have taken place within the set of said tanks forming said device, each of said tanks being capable of being equipped with a water heating means that is independent for each tank and individually equipped with a temperature sensor for the water contained in the tank, linked to a system for regulating said water heating means, the tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water being capable of comprising moreover at least one second water heating means, independent of the first water heating means of said tank, said second water heating means being moreover capable of being equipped with a temperature sensor linked to a system for regulating said second water heating means.

A first advantage of the invention is its geometry. The latter can allow easy incorporation into a space having small dimensions such as for example a double wall.

Another advantage of the invention is its modular design. The fact that each tank is capable of being independent in terms of heating makes it possible for only one or more tanks to be heated to and regulated at the chosen temperature, thus optimizing the available volume of hot water. It is therefore easy to adapt the usable volume of water for example to the number of persons likely to use the hot water. The advantage is to adapt the consumption of electricity more closely to the needs of the users and thus result in significant energy saving.

According to the invention, said water heating means can be any means known in the field such as for example a system of immersion heating elements or a heating panel system applied directly onto at least one outer wall of the tank. Preferably according to the invention, said heating means can be a heating panel system applied directly onto at least one outer wall of the tank and even more advantageously a large surface-area heating panel system applied directly onto at least one outer wall of the tank. Very advantageously said heating panel system can cover the walls of the tank in their entirety.

It is known that heating means situated inside the tank, although effective, have some drawbacks such as accelerating corrosion phenomena and the appearance of hot spots promoting the formation of limescale and limiting the lifespan of the immersion heating means.

The external heating panel solution moreover makes it possible, for equivalent power, to increase the exchange surface area between the heating element and the water, reducing the applied power in watts per cm², to totally eliminate hot spots and thus significantly reduce natural limescale formation. This solution moreover has the advantage of better maintaining the performance over time of the heating element and considerably increasing its lifespan.

According to the invention, it is possible for said water heating means to have a power rating comprised between 100 and 1200 watts, preferably between 200 and 400 watts.

According to the invention, said water heating device can comprise as many tanks as desired above 2, the number of course depending on the volume of each tank and the total volume of hot water that is potentially required. A person skilled in the art will of course have no difficulty in adapting this fact. Advantageously, it is possible for the device according to the invention to comprise between 2 and 6 tanks, even more advantageously 4.

According to the invention, said tanks can adopt any shapes required, independently or simultaneously. It is easily understood that the final shape of each tank will depend on the use for which it is intended as well as the environment in which it is to be used. Thus according to the invention, the tanks can for example adopt a cylindrical shape or a hexahedral shape with pairs of parallel faces such as cubes, rectangular parallelepipeds or rhombohedrons, or even a spherical shape. Advantageously according to the invention, it is possible for said tanks to be cylindrical in shape.

According to the invention, said tanks can adopt any sizes desired, independently or simultaneously. It is easily understood that the final size of each tank will depend on the use for which it is intended as well as the environment in which it is to be used. Advantageously according to the invention, the tanks can have dimensions compatible with their siting in a space encompassed by the void volume of a double wall, such as for example in the space encompassed by the self-supporting frame that serves to support the elements of a standard wall hung toilet assembly.

According to the invention, said system(s) for regulating said one or more water heating means can be of any known type, for example mechanical or electronic, advantageously electronic.

Said system(s) for regulating said one or more water heating means can automatically deliver a control signal based on the difference between the set point and the measurement transmitted electronically by the temperature sensors.

Similarly according to the invention, it is possible for the system(s) for regulating said one or more water heating means to be controlled directly or remotely, advantageously remotely, by a control means. When controlled remotely, said regulation system(s) can be linked to a control means by any known transmission system, such as for example a wired system, a wireless remote transmission system such as for example electromagnetic radio waves, for example according to the Wi-Fi®, Wi-Max®, Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, Hiperlan® or even DECT® protocols.

According to the invention, the tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water comprises moreover at least one second water heating means, independent of the first water heating means of said tank, said second water heating means being capable moreover of being equipped with a temperature sensor linked to a system for regulating said second water heating means.

According to the invention, said second water heating means can be any means known in the field such as for example a system of immersion heating elements in the water contained in the tank or a heating panel system applied directly onto at least one outer wall of the tank. Advantageously, it is possible for said second water heating means to be a heating panel applied onto the outer wall.

According to the invention, it is possible for said second heating means to have a heat rating at least identical to the heat rating of the first heating means equipping said tank. It is also possible to envisage that said second water heating means could have a heat rating significantly greater than the heat rating of said first water heating means.

The flexibility of the system makes it possible either to use the second water heating means alone, particularly if its rating is greater than that of said first water heating means, or, particularly if the two heating means have an identical rating, to combine the first and second water heating means, making it possible to accelerate the heating of the volume of water contained in the tank.

These two variants must allow rapid heating of the volume of water contained in the tank, at the very least in significantly less time than if the first water heating means of said tank were used alone.

According to a variant of the invention, the heating panels can moreover be completely or partially covered with a layer of thermal insulation.

Thus according to the invention, said second water heating means can have a power rating comprised between 200 and 2400 watts, preferably, between 400 and 1600 watts.

Said second water heating means can moreover be equipped with a temperature sensor linked to a system for regulating said second water heating means. As for the first heating means, said system for regulating said second water heating means can be of any known type, for example mechanical or electronic, advantageously electronic.

Similarly according to the invention, it is possible for said system for regulating said second water heating means to be controlled directly or remotely, advantageously remotely. When controlled remotely, said regulation system can be linked to the control means by any known transmission system, such as for example a wired system, a remote wireless transmission system such as for example electromagnetic radio waves, for example according to the Wi-Fi®, Wi-Max®, Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, Hiperlan® or even DECT® protocols.

It is possible for said second water heating means to be started on demand only and for a reduced number of heating cycles, advantageously a single heating cycle.

It can be started at any time using said control means to which it is linked, as decided by the consumer who wishes to obtain hot water rapidly, for example when the device is re-started, for example after it has been shut off for an extended period, or when an unexpected need arises for a greater quantity of hot water than foreseen.

According to the invention, said device can moreover comprise means for automatically regulating its operation, such as for example a means making it possible to finally switch off the second water heating means when the volume of hot water contained in the tank in question has reached the desired temperature and to return said device automatically to its normal programming so as to avoid structural overconsumption for a merely occasional requirement.

According to the invention, said device can moreover comprise an embedded water consumption analysis function which, using an electronic water meter positioned on the hot water outlet, can allow measurement in real time of the quantity of hot water consumed. Thus measuring the ratio between hot water consumed and hot water available in the device can allow continuous measurement of the current availability level and therefore the risk of shortage. When a pre-set warning threshold is exceeded, said second water heating means can be activated automatically or directly by the user after being informed by the device of the hot water reserve supply status.

According to the invention, the device can moreover comprise any means necessary to install said device in its intended place, such as for example mounting brackets, means of support from below or even a self-supporting frame to which the different elements of said device will be fixed.

A particularly preferred water heating device according to the invention, advantageously for heating sanitary water, can comprise at least two cylindrical tanks of identical or different sizes, connected together by water transportation means, capable of comprising a cold water inlet on at least one of said tanks and a hot water outlet on at least one other of said tanks, it being understood that between its entry into the device and its exit from said device it is possible for circulation of the water to have taken place within the set of said tanks forming said device, each of said tanks being capable of being equipped with a water heating means that is independent for each tank, in the form of a heating panel applied directly onto the outer wall of the tank, having a large surface area, and individually equipped with a temperature sensor for the water contained in the tank, linked to a system for regulating said water heating means, the tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water comprising moreover at least one second water heating means, independent of the first water heating means of said tank, in the form of a second heating panel applied directly onto the outer wall of said tank, said two panels being capable of having an identical heat rating, said second water heating means being capable moreover of being equipped with a temperature sensor linked to a system for regulating said second water heating means, said regulation system being capable of being linked to a control means, advantageously remote, said device being capable of comprising moreover a self-supporting frame.

The invention will be better understood with reference to the attached figures, diagrammatically and non-limitatively showing a device according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a vertical cross section of a device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional plan view seen from below of a device according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective representation of a device according to the invention in position.

Thus, FIG. 1 shows a vertical cross section of a device according to the invention, comprising 2 cylindrical tanks (1) and (2), connected together by water circulation piping (3), each tank being equipped with a water heating means constituted by a heating panel arranged on the outer wall of the tank (4), each heating panel being equipped with a regulating means (5) comprising a temperature sensor (6), said regulating means being wirelessly linked to a remote control means (7). The tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water (tank 2) moreover comprises a second heating panel arranged on the outer wall of said tank (8), equipped with a regulating means (5) comprising a temperature sensor (6), said regulating means being wirelessly linked to a remote control means (7).

FIG. 2 shows a view from above of a device according to the invention, comprising 2 cylindrical tanks (1) and (2), connected together by water circulation piping (3), each tank being equipped with a water heating means constituted by a heating panel arranged on the outer wall of the tank (4), each heating panel being equipped with a regulating means (5), said regulating means being wirelessly linked to a remote control means (7). The tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water (tank 2) comprises moreover a second heating panel arranged on the outer wall of said tank (8), equipped with a regulating means (5) comprising a temperature sensor (6), said regulating means being wirelessly linked to a remote control means (7).

FIG. 3 shows in perspective an embodiment of said device according to the invention, installed in the double wall of a wall hung toilet system.

With reference to this drawing, the device comprises 4 vertically arranged tank tubes (2), two at the sides and two in the centre, which are shorter than the side tank tubes to allow its incorporation into a wall hung WC mechanism (4) within the depth of the water tank. The device assembly rests on a self-supporting frame (1). Connected onto the self-supporting frame, transverse bars (6) situated at different heights support and hold the tank tubes (2). The cistern and pan of the wall hung WC (4) are fixed directly onto the framework of the self-supporting frame (1) using fixing bolts.

The device constituted by the self-supporting framework (1), tank tubes (2) and the wall hung WC mechanism (4) can be built into a double wall (5).

The outer wall of each tank tube (2) is equipped with a rectangular heating panel (3) bonded onto said wall. The heating panel (3) is for example electric. The assembly constituted by the tank tube (2), its outer pipe and the heating panel is completely covered with a layer of thermal insulation.

By way of non-limitative example, for a capacity of 100 litres, the device will have dimensions of approximately 81 cm wide, 220 cm high and 23 cm deep. 

1. Water heating device, advantageously for heating sanitary water, comprising at least two tanks (1, 2) having sizes and shapes that are identical or different, connected together by water transportation means (3), comprising a cold water inlet on at least one of said tanks and a hot water outlet on at least one other of said tanks, it being understood that between its entry into the device and its exit from said device it is possible for circulation of the water to have taken place within the set of said tanks forming said device, each of said tanks being equipped with a water heating means (4) that is independent for each tank and individually equipped with a temperature sensor (6) for the water contained in the tank, linked to a system (5) for regulating said water heating means, the tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water (2) comprising moreover at least one second water heating means (8), independent of the first water heating means of said tank, said second water heating means being moreover equipped with a temperature sensor (6) linked to a system (5) for regulating said second water heating means.
 2. Water heating device according to claim 1, characterized in that said water heating means (4) is a system of immersion heating elements or a heating panel system applied directly onto at least one outer wall of the tank (1, 2), preferably a heating panel system applied directly onto at least one outer wall of the tank.
 3. Water heating device according to claim 1, characterized in that said system(s) for regulating said one or more water heating means (5) can be mechanical or electronic, advantageously electronic.
 4. Water heating device according to claim 3, characterized in that said one or more water heating means (4) can be controlled directly or remotely, advantageously remotely, by a control means (7).
 5. Water heating device according to claim 3, characterized in that said regulation system(s) are linked to the control means by a wired transmission system or a wireless remote transmission system such as for example electromagnetic radio waves, for example according to the Wi-Fi®, Wi-Max®, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Hiperlan® or even DECT® protocols.
 6. Water heating device according to claim 1, characterized in that the tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water (2) comprises at least one second water heating means (8), independent of the first water heating means (4) of said tank.
 7. Water heating device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least two cylindrical tanks of identical or different sizes (1, 2), connected together by water transportation means (3), comprising a cold water inlet on at least one of said tanks and a hot water outlet on at least one other of said tanks, it being understood that between its entry into the device and its exit from said device it is possible for circulation of the water to have taken place within the set of said tanks forming said device, each of said tanks being capable of being equipped with a water heating means (4) that is independent for each tank, in the form of a heating panel applied directly onto the outer wall of the tank, advantageously having a large surface area, and individually equipped with a temperature sensor for the water contained in the tank (6) linked to a system for regulating said water heating means (5), the tank that is the furthest downstream in the direction of flow of the water (2) comprising moreover at least one second water heating means (8), independent of the first water heating means of said tank, in the form of a second heating panel applied directly onto the outer wall of said tank, said two panels having an identical heat rating, said second water heating means being moreover equipped with a temperature sensor (6) linked to a system for regulating said second water heating means (5), said regulation system being linked to a control means (7), advantageously remote, said device comprising moreover a self-supporting frame. 